Sheet-supporting assembly for an inverter roll

ABSTRACT

An inverter roll for an offset printing press includes a pair of axially spaced-apart spider wheels. A plurality of peripheral rods extend between the rims of the spider wheels and sheetsupporting wheels projecting beyond the cylindrical plane of the rims of the spider wheels are rotatably mounted on such rods to support the paper sheets as they pass around the inverter roll. The positions of such wheels along the rods are readily adjustable to ensure that such wheels always contact the printed surfaces of the sheets at nonprinted positions thereon.

United States Patent Herrington et al.

[ 1 Feb. 15, 1972 SHEET-SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR AN INVERTER ROLL Inventors: Francis Walter Herrington, 863 Windermere Ave., Toronto; James 0. Mc- Clure, 23 Darlington Crescent, Bramalea, Ontario, both of Canada Filed: Aug. 7, 1970 Appl. No.: 62,086

US. Cl ..271/79, 29/116, 101/420, 271/51, 308/236 Int. Cl. ....B65h 29/04, B65h 29/20 Field ofSearch ..271/82, 71,51, 80, 79; 193/37; 29/116, 121; 287/5204; 308/236, DIG. 7, DIG. 11; 101/416, 418, 419, 420

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1967 Janecek et al. ..271/51 9/1956 La Bombard ..271/41 3,301,614 l/1967 Haentjens ..308/236 X 3,037,603 6/1962 Kornylak .193/37 2,740,355 4/1956 Wimpfheimer. 101/420 3,509,839 5/1970 Meier ...271/82 2,724,867 11/1955 Smith 29/116 X 2,773,300 12/1956 Clements ..29/1 16 Primary Examiner-Joseph Wegbreit Assistant ExaminerBruce 1'1. Stoner, Jr. Attorney-Arne l. Fors and Frank I. Piper 57 ABSTRACT An inverter roll for an offset printing press includes a pair of axially spaced-apart spider wheels. A plurality of peripheral rods extend between the rims of the spider wheels and sheetsupporting wheels projecting beyond the cylindrical plane of the rims of the spider wheels are rotatably mounted on such rods to support the paper sheets as they pass around the inverter roll. The positions of such wheels along the rods are readily adjustable to ensure that such wheels always contact the printed surfaces of the sheets at nonprinted positions thereon.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENTEDFEB 15 I972 3.642.274

skin 1 [1F 2 INVENTORS: H FRANCIS W HERR/NGTON JAMES D. MECLURE I BY AGENT PAFENTEUFEB 15 I972 SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTORS. 36 FRANCIS w HERR/NGTON Fl JAMES 0. MSCLURE AGENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to sheet-supporting assemblies for printing machines which assemblies are particularly intended for use in inverter rolls of rotary offset printing machines.

More particularly, the invention relates to sheet-supporting assemblies for printing machines and which assemblies are characterized by the ease with which the positions of sheet-engaging wheels or rollers of such assemblies can be adjusted to ensure that such wheels or rollers engage nonprinted areas of the printed surfaces of paper sheets passing about transfer or inverter rolls of the press. In this way, the risk of smearing of the printed image on such a sheet is substantially reduced.

Although inverter roll assemblies and transfer roll assemblies have previously been proposed for the same purpose, many of the assemblies heretofore known have had relatively complex structures and have been not only expensive to manufacture but have also been difficult to install on existing transfer and inverter roll structures.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a sheetsupporting assembly for an inverter roll or transfer roll of a printing press and which sheet-supporting assembly is particularly characterized by the simplicity of its structure and by function of the assembly whereby freshly inked surfaces are supported only on freely rotating wheels or rollers which can be readily laterally adjusted so that they selectively engage substantially nonprinted areas of printed sheets passing about the roll.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the description herein proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In its broadest scope, the present invention provides a sheetsupporting assembly for a roll of a printing press which assembly comprises a pair of axially spaced-apart mounting members adapted to be supported by a roll shaft, a plurality of generally peripheral rods extending between said mounting members so as to be generally parallel to the roll shaft, and wheels rotatably mounted on said rods in adjustable positions therealong for supporting a paper sheet passing about said roll.

In accordance with one particularly useful feature of this invention, each wheel provided on the sheet-supporting assembly thereof comprises an annular generally planar disc rotatably mounted between first and second external and axially spaced-apart annular flanges provided on a sleeve frictionally engaging a respective one of said rods for slidable adjustment therealong. A particularly useful construction for retaining such discs on such a sleeve will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description herein proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described merely by way of illustration with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary schematic side elevation of an offset printing press showing the use therein of an inverter roll incorporating a sheet-supporting assembly in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a somewhat schematic partial plan view of the printing press of FIG. 1 showing the relative dispositions of the inverter roll and a chain-driven gripper belt constituting a discharge means of the printing press;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the inverter roll of the printing press of the preceding Figures;

Hg. 4 is an enlarged and exploded perspective view of one of the sheet-engaging wheel assemblies of the inverter roll of the printing press shown in the preceding Figures and also showing the manner in which such a wheel is adjustably disposed on one of the peripheral rods of the inverter roll, such rod being shown fragmentarily; and

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the wheel assembly of FIG. 4 showing the wheel and its bearing sleeve in their assembled positions and showing that sleeve disposed about one of the peripheral rods of the inverter roll.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The offset printing press indicated generally at 10 in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is conventional in that it includes a plate roll generally indicated at 11, a blanket roll generally indicated at 12 and an impression roll generally indicated at 13. An inking roller assembly generally indicated at 14 is provided in a conventional manner for inking the offset plate mounted on the plate roll 11. In operation, the various rolls 11, 12 and 13 rotate in the directions indicated by the an rows and a paper sheet fed from a feed station generally indicated at 15 passes through the nip 16 between the blanket roll 12 and the impression roll 13 to receive a printed image from the blanket roll 12. The printed sheet is transferred from the impression roll 13 to an inverter roll generally indicated at 18 and from which it is, in turn, removed by a chain-driven gripper belt generally indicated at 19.

The gripper belt 19 is conventional and includes a pair of spaced-apart chains 20 and 21 between which a number of transversally disposed gripper bars 22 are mounted for gripping the leading edges of successive sheets of paper carried on the inverter roll 18 in turn to transfer such sheets as shown schematically at 23 in FIG. 1 to a discharge stack generally indicated at 24. The chains 20 and 21 are entrained around drive sprockets 25 and 26 respectively as well as around sprockets 27 and 28 respectively, the latter sprockets 27 and 28 being keyed to a main shaft 32 of the inverter roll 18 as will readily be understood by reference to FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings.

Since the gripper belt 19 forms no part of the present invention and since it can be constructed in any appropriate manner, it will not be described in greater detail herein.

As already indicated, the present invention resides in the provision of a particular type of sheet-supporting assembly on the inverter roll 18 of the press 10 shown in the accompanying drawings. It will readily be understood by reference to FIG. 1 that, during the passage ofa printed sheet around the inverter roll 18, the printed surface of such a sheet will be in contact with the peripheral surface of that roll.

As already explained herein, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a roll such as an inverter roll in which the positions at which such a printed sheet is touched by the inverter roll can be controlled and adjusted so as substantially to reduce the risk of smearing of the printed image present on the sheet.

The general structure of the inverter roll 18 will now be described with particular reference to FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings from which it will be seen that the roll 18 includes a pair of axially spaced-apart spider discs or wheels 30 and 31, each of which is retained in position on the shaft 32 by a locking bolt 33. Each of the spider discs 30 and 31 is formed with a cutaway sector 34, as is conventional, for receiving the gripper bars 22 on operation of the press 10 as will also readily be understood by those conversant with the art.

A plurality of rods 36 extend between the spider discs 30 and 31 at mutually angularly spaced-apart positions therearound and, in accordance with one particularly useful feature of this invention, each such rod 36 is formed at each of its ends with a terminal stud 37 (FIG. 4) which is slidably inserted into a corresponding opening in the rim of a respective one of the spider discs 30 and 31 being automatically retained in such opening when the spider discs 30 and 31 are clamped on the shaft 32.

Slidably mounted on the rods 36 for positional adjustment therealong, there are provided a plurality of wheels which are generally and individually indicated at 40. These wheels 40 have a diameter sufficiently large such that the wheels project behind the cylindrical plane defined by the peripheries of spider wheels 30, 31 and thereby support the printed paper sheet as it passes about the inverter roll 18 free of contact with wheels 30, 31 and, support the printed paper sheet as it passes about the inverter roll 18 and, by adjusting the longitudinal positions of the wheels 40 on the rods 36 prior to operation of the press 10, such wheelscan be arranged so that they touch the printed sheet at unprinted positions thereon so substantially reducing the risk ofsmearing of the printed image.

One especially useful structure for each such wheel 40 and for the adjustable mounting of such wheels on the rods 36 will now be described in greater detail with particular reference to FIGS. 4 and of the accompanying drawings.

Referring, therefore, particularly to FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be noted that the wheel 40 illustrated therein comprises an annular generally planar disc 41 integrally formed around its outer edge with a peripheral flange 42 extending in the axial direction. The flange 42 is usefully formed with an irregular external surface to ensure effective transfer of each paper sheet from the impression roller 13. In the disc 41 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the flange 42 is shown as being stamped to provide outwardly projecting burrs 43. It is, however, equally within the scope of this invention to apply a coating of a frictional material to the outer surface of the flange 42 for the same purpose. The disc 41 also includes an axial opening 44 (FIG. 4) which, when the wheel 40 is assembled, is disposed coaxially about a sleeve member generally indicated at 46.

Referring now in greater detail to the structure of the sleeve member 46, it will be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5 that member 46 comprises a cylindrical sleeve 47 which fits slidably on a respective one of the rods 36 for frictional gripping engagement therewith. To facilitate such gripping engagement, the sleeve 47 is usefully formed with two diametrically opposed longitudinal slots 48 and 49 along a portion of its length so as to provide two tongues 50 and 51 which are resiliently urged into gripping engagement with the respective rod 36. With this particular construction, the wheel 40 can be slid along the rod 36 whenever it is desired to adjust its axial position thereon but, once so adjusted into a required position, the tongues 50 and 51 serve firmly to retain the wheel 40 in that required position.

Integrally formed with the sleeve 47, there is provided a first annular flange 52 which has a diameter greater than the diameter of the opening 44 in the disc 41. Axially adjacent the flange 52, the sleeve 47 is integrally formed with an annular lip or shoulder 53 (FIG. 4) having substantially the same diameter as the opening 44. The lip 53 serves to support the disc 41 when that disc is disposed in axial abutment with the flange 52.

At the opposite end to the tongues 50 and 51, the sleeve 47 is integrally formed with a second annular lip 54 which has substantially the same diameter as the lip 53 and is axially spaced apart from that lip to provide a peripheral recess 55 in which a resilient elastomeric collar 56 is received for holding the disc 41 in position coaxially around the lip 53.

It will now be understood that the wheel 40 can be assembled simply by inserting the sleeve 47 into the opening 44 in the disc 41 until the latter is disposed around the lip 53. The collar 56 can then be stretched over the lip 54 for insertion into the recess 55.

The disc 41 and the flange 42 integrally formed therewith are usefully formed of metal, for example, by a stamping operation although the use of other materials such as a plastics material for that member is also possible. The sleeve 46 with the integrally formed flange 52 and the integrally formed lips 53 and 54 is usefully manufactured from a plastics material but the use of other materials is not precluded. As already indicated, the collar 56 is usefully formed of an elastomeric material.

In the use of the inverter roll 18 in a printing press such as the press 10, the rods 36 are first fitted into the spider discs 30 and 31 in the manner already described and these discs 30 and 31 are then clamped to the shaft 32 by means of the locking bolts 33. The various wheels 40 are then slid along the rods 36 into such positions that, during operation of the press 10, each printed paper sheet is contacted by the flanges 42 of the disc 41 of the wheels 40 in nonprinted areas of such sheets.

Although the invention has been described with reference to an inverter roll in which the rods 36 carrying the wheels 40 are mounted directly on the spider discs 30 and 31, it will be understood that it is equally within the scope of this invention to provide separate mounting members for supporting the rods 36 and which mounting discs can in turn be secured in any appropriate manner to existing spider discs of an inverter roll. Furthermore, it is within the scope of this invention to utilize the sheet-supporting assemblies thereof in the transfer rolls of multicolor printing presses.

We claim:

1. A sheet-supporting assembly for a roll of a printing press which assembly comprises a pair of axially spaced-apart mounting members adapted to be supported by a roll shaft, a plurality of generally peripheral rods extending between said mounting members so as to be generally parallel to the roll shaft, and a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on said rods in adjustable positions therealong for supporting a paper sheet passing around said roll, each of said wheels comprising a generally planar annular disc rotatably mounted between first and second external and axially spaced-apart annular flanges provided on a sleeve frictionally engaging a respective one of said rods for slidable adjustment therealong, and the periphery of each of said wheels projecting beyond the plane of the mounting members.

2. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 1 for use on an inverter roll of a printing press and in which each said mounting member comprises a spider wheel.

3. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which each said annular generally planar disc is integrally formed with a paper sheet-engaging annular flange extending in the axial direction from the peripheral edge of said planar disc.

4. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which said sheet-engaging annular flange of each said annular generally planar disc is formed with a roughened external peripheral surface for engagement with a paper sheet passing about the inverter roll.

5. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said annular generally planar disc of each said wheel is retained in position on a respective one of said sleeves by said first external annular flange which is integrally formed with said sleeve and by a resilient collar constituting said second external annular flange and which is axially retained in position on said sleeve by a first external annular lip integrally formed with saidsleeve, said first annular lip being dimensioned so as to permit passage thereover of both said annular generally planar disc of said wheel and said collar when said collar is radially expanded but also normally to retain said collar in position around said sleeve.

6. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 5 in which said sleeve is integrally formed with a second annular lip axially spaced apart from said first annular lip thereof to receive said collar therebetween and to receive said annular generally planar disc of a respective one of said wheels coaxially thereabout.

7. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 6 in which each said sleeve is longitudinally slotted to facilitate its frictional gripping engagement with a respective one of said rods.

8. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 7 in which each said sleeve, said first external annular flange thereof and said first and second annular lips thereof are integrally formed of a plastics material and in which said collar is formed of an elastomeric material. 

1. A sheet-supporting assembly for a roll of a printing press which assembly comprises a pair of axially spaced-apart mounting members adapted to be supported by a roll shaft, a plurality of generally peripheral rods extending between said mounting members so as to be generally parallel to the roll shaft, and a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on said rods in adjustable positions therealong for supporting a paper sheet passing around said roll, each of said wheels comprising a generally planar annular disc rotatably mounted between first and second external and axially spaced-apart annular flanges provided on a sleeve frictionally engaging a respective one of said rods for slidable adjustment therealong, and the periphery of each of said wheels projecting beyond the plane of the mounting members.
 2. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 1 for use on an inverter roll of a printing press and in which each said mounting member comprises a spider wheel.
 3. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which each said annular generally planar disc is integrally formed with a paper sheet-engaging annular flange extending in the axial direction from the peripheral edge of said planar disc.
 4. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which said sheet-engaging annular flange of each said annular generally planar disc is formed with a roughened external peripheral surface for engagement with a paper sheet passing about the inverter roll.
 5. A sheeT-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said annular generally planar disc of each said wheel is retained in position on a respective one of said sleeves by said first external annular flange which is integrally formed with said sleeve and by a resilient collar constituting said second external annular flange and which is axially retained in position on said sleeve by a first external annular lip integrally formed with said sleeve, said first annular lip being dimensioned so as to permit passage thereover of both said annular generally planar disc of said wheel and said collar when said collar is radially expanded but also normally to retain said collar in position around said sleeve.
 6. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 5 in which said sleeve is integrally formed with a second annular lip axially spaced apart from said first annular lip thereof to receive said collar therebetween and to receive said annular generally planar disc of a respective one of said wheels coaxially thereabout.
 7. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 6 in which each said sleeve is longitudinally slotted to facilitate its frictional gripping engagement with a respective one of said rods.
 8. A sheet-supporting assembly as claimed in claim 7 in which each said sleeve, said first external annular flange thereof and said first and second annular lips thereof are integrally formed of a plastics material and in which said collar is formed of an elastomeric material. 